600X, SpeedStep and batteries

[whizkid]

Bruce discovered that using IBM-branded batteries allows one to set the CPU speed in WXP to the full rating. He and I both see that a 3rd-party battery makes it impossible to set the CPU to full speed without heroic efforts. (I don't know what those are, but I suspect disabling ACPI might do it.)

While the last BIOS update for the 600X allowed XP to work correctly, I wonder if the ThinkPadders here think that IBM purposely changes behavior with a non-IBM battery, or, more charitably, that the 3rd-party makers don't follow the exact protocol so they have a bug that makes XP not throttle up correctly.

I prefer to think it's the latter case. That the batteries were designed before XP came out, and they still work, so they haven't fixed the issue. Heck, the battery I have doesn't even have a maker's name on it so you can't call them and report any problems.

Thoughts?

[Edward Mendelson]

Exactly what steps do you do to get the true-IBM battery up to its full rating on a 600X under XP???

[whizkid]

Well Bruce discovered the difference. I don't have any IBM-branded batteries.

If you mean get the battery to its full rating... then you plug it in.

If you mean get the CPU to its full rating with an IBM battery... then according to all the documentation I've seen, you select the Always On or Minimal Power Management power scheme.

[Edward Mendelson]

Yes, I meant get the CPU to its full rating. Thanks!

[pkiff]

Reviving this thread briefly to add a note about using refilled batteries.

I purchased a refilled battery for my 600X from batteryrefill.com in April 2006. The reason I decided to try refilled batteries was in the hopes of getting a refilled, higher-capacity 600X battery that would function correctly in terms of allowing my SpeedStep CPU to step up to the maximum speed under all OSes.

As Bruce and whizkid have noted, if you have a 600X with a SpeedStep CPU and you use a generic clone battery instead of an original IBM OEM battery, then the CPU will always run at the lower SpeedStep speed (a PIII 650MHz will run at 500MHz). I've upgraded my 600X to a PIII 850MHz and I wanted to find out if a refilled battery would act like an original IBM OEM battery and allow the CPU to reach maximum speed -- it would be a tragedy to have managed to get one of the rare 850MHz CPUs and be forced to run it at 700MHz!

I am reporting that in my case, yes, the refilled battery from batteryrefill.com does indeed allow my 600X to reach 850MHz, unlike my generic clone battery from Eagle Imports. This is what I had hoped, and it provides one possible reason for 600X 650MHz+ users to investigate refilled batteries over other high capacity clones.

My clone battery in all other ways has been excellent -- better than an original IBM battery. It is over 2.5 years old and although diminished in power, it still runs solidly for an hour or more. So, I would not hesitate to endorse clone batteries from Eagle Imports for 600 series users who do not have a SpeedStep CPU. Also, I would note that the batteryrefill.com battery did not initially seem able to reach 850MHz, but after 4-5 recharge cycles the battery suddenly was recognized differently somehow and my 600X can now reach 850MHz just like with an original IBM OEM battery.

Regarding my experiences with batteryrefill.com, I can say that the order was demonstrably slow to be processed: my order was paid on 20 April by credit card and I got word that the battery finally shipped on 16 May. But based on reading other feedback, I had expected the process to be slow. Aside from the speed of service, things went as expected.

I am still conditioning the battery I think and so am not clear on how well it has done increasing the capacity over the original 600 batteries, but I am expecting a moderate improvement in that area once the conditioning is finally completed.

A similar post to this was also sent to the Thinkpad Mailing List.

Phil.

[serverbook]

pkiff! (luring off topic for a sec)
if i leave speedstep settings checked to just "automaticaly change settings",+ uncheck "ask me before changing automaticaly first" in windows
bootup requires fn/8 to continue next time (after i plugged back the psu, however when i checked the lower box too,and set "power to max speed and 'battery to lower speed
and then disconnect the psu in windows with them settings, comfirm box appears and as soon as i select to change cpu speed it seizes until(you guessed it ,depress fn and f8 keys just like the prior
now when i shut off and install the psu and reboot next time it requires the fn+f8 key to resett the cpu to full speed ,however once the initial resett is done and leave the psu inplace (no change in speeds in windows the next time )it boots up perfectly dare i say better than the 600e and keep on doing so unless i retrigger
lower speed again ,which interm requires resett boot procedure like before when i unplugged the psu.(if that makes sense!)
i have set power managment to portable laptop.
despite minor glitches this is the best compomise i found
with this 650 /600x machine.
in your opinion,is there a better way or am i asking too much?
your opinion about my comments in the other post prompted me
to really look at the whole situation again
somehow the driver issue warded me out of context in regards
to correct setup of speedstep cpu. before hand + all the other variables and programs attempted (including speedswitch all vers+ other ver speedstep programs,somehow nailing the optimum eluded me.
as you very well know it is not easy to sort out the pro's and conns.
very few tp600x owners are running xp pro with speedstep cpus working as they ought to be.i beleive you are one of the few
credit to your resolve